New Shape-Shifting Polymer Holds 1,000 Times Its Own Mass - Watch Out Plastic Man! (techtimes.com)

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New Shape-Shifting Polymer Holds 1,000 Times Its Own Mass - Watch Out Plastic Man! (techtimes.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Sunday February 14, 2016 @07:18AM from the Mystique dept.

University of Rochester researchers have announced the development of a new polymer, capable of supporting 1,000 times its own mass. Polymers that can change shape when heated have been developed in the past, yet this new polymer exhibits the rare quality of becoming flexible when exposed to body heat. This property, which can be used to change the shape of a device, could make the substance useful in medical applications. When the new polymer is removed from the heat source (such as human body), the material immediately returns to its original configuration.

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Medical applications? by tlambert · 2016-02-14 07:25 · Score: 5, Funny

Medical applications?
"How did the poor bastard die?"
"He was out skiing, and his artificial kidney reverted to its original shape, a spiky brick."
1. Re:Medical applications? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 07:33 · Score: 0
  
  Medical applications?
  How did the poor bastard die?
  He was in a car wreck and his rib cage was compromised. He tripped and fell, puncturing a lung. Too bad we couldn't fix his rib cage with shape-memory materials with very high strength.
2. Re:Medical applications? by WarJolt · 2016-02-14 07:48 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  The target application is clearly breast implants. It certainly will give a whole new meaning to it's feeling a bit nipply out there.
3. Re:Medical applications? by Adriax · 2016-02-14 09:58 · Score: 2
  
  M&M polymer implants. Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
  
  --
  I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
4. Re:Medical applications? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 13:35 · Score: 0
  
  Makes no sense for the application, isn't witty, but is about tits. Gets upvoted on Slashdot, of course.
"Medical" applications... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 07:43 · Score: 3, Funny

Fleshlight :)
Wow that is one ad-laden site by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 07:46 · Score: 0

At least on iOS, you'll be treated to a full-screen ad whose close button actually brings up another slide-in ad!
And that's using no iOS 9 ad blocker!
1. Re:Wow that is one ad-laden site by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 07:48 · Score: 0
  
  And that's using no iOS 9 ad blocker!
  "No" should be "an" - I am running an ad blocker.
2. Re: Wow that is one ad-laden site by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-15 05:12 · Score: 0
  
  Android without adblocker, no ads here... think about it
Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Irate+Engineer · 2016-02-14 07:49 · Score: 4, Interesting

What the fuck does that mean?
1 sq. inch (sectional area) of cheap steel can support 36,000 lbs in tension without yielding.
A 1 inch cube of steel weighs 0.29 lbs and can support 36,000 lbs, so that's 124,000 times!
This raises a red flag that whoever wrote this doesn't really get mechanics.

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Vote for Bernie in 2016!
1. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 08:00 · Score: 0
  
  The article says "lift" not support.
2. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by wonkey_monkey · 2016-02-14 08:01 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I'm pretty sure a supermarket plastic bag could hold nearly 1000x its own mass - certainly within an order of magnitude, at the very least. And those are made out of a polymer too!
  They even shape-shift, crinkling up into a little blob if you set them on fire. They won't shape shift back again, admittedly...
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
3. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by JoeMerchant · 2016-02-14 08:22 · Score: 1
  
  I'd go out on a limb and take a bet that a modern plastic grocery bag can hold 5,000x its weight... they hold (on the order of) 10lbs, so 1/500 lb - how many grams do you think a single bag weighs (without the printer's ink on it)? If it's less than 1 gram per bag, we've got 5000:1 performance there.
4. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 08:26 · Score: 0
  
  Where can I get this "plastic bag" you speak of? It sounds amazing!!!
5. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 08:38 · Score: 0
  
  Lbs & grams? WTF?
6. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Irate+Engineer · 2016-02-14 08:39 · Score: 1
  
  Where can I get this "plastic bag" you speak of? It sounds amazing!!!
  You can get them at my supermarket whether you want them or not. I'm usually fighting the bagger not to put one single item in its own bag. The bags can easily hold 10+ lbs of stuff each, but they're so afraid of lawyers that they'll put a bag of marshmallows in one bag, just to be safe. Canned goods makes the bagger break out in a cold sweat and get double bagged automatically. I usually re-bag into one and hand them back the extras. I'm waiting for them to demand that I sign a waiver to do this.
  
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  Vote for Bernie in 2016!
7. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by guruevi · 2016-02-14 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  Per square inch? Typically these forces are measured over a specific area otherwise, with sufficient material I could make any statement hold true - wet paper will hold thousands of pounds too if you spread the material out enough.
  
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8. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 08:56 · Score: 0
  
  Um, yes, there are 454 grams in a pound... WTF, couldn't you check that before posting your web diarrhea to be stored for eternity?
9. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by wonkey_monkey · 2016-02-14 10:11 · Score: 1
  
  Per square inch?
  Does it make sense to ask that in this context? The headline says "1000 times its own mass".
  A one inch square will hold 1000 times its own mass. A two inch square will hold 4x as much as the previous square, but it's still 1000 times its own mass.
  
  wet paper will hold thousands of pounds too if you spread the material out enough.
  One pound of wet paper won't hold a thousand pounds of something.
  Although technically the article doesn't specify under what strength gravity this material can operate...
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
10. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by wonkey_monkey · 2016-02-14 10:12 · Score: 1
  
  You can get them at my supermarket whether you want them or not.
  Not over here, you can't. That is to say, you have to pay a small charge per bag. Cuts down on waste.
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
11. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by SuricouRaven · 2016-02-14 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  The polymer used to make those bags has a curious property of weakening sharply when in proximity to a garden path.
12. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by sumdumass · 2016-02-14 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  A lot of people don't like certain things in the same bag as other things. Some may even be dictated by the local health departments or some code of food safety and some might be common sense. Examples of this is raw meats which should have their own bags segregated by type to avoid cross contamination (especially raw poultry). Heavy items like canned goods should be separated from bread or other items that could shift and become squashed. The same goes with containers that can be opened easily like rigid plastic containers holding deli foods or partially prepared fruits and vegetables. Also frozen items should be segregated from unfrozen and refrigerated items should be separated from room temperature items. Of course that is flexible to the extent that thawing or warming would not create a food safety issue or damage the goods. For instance refrigerated bottles of soda could be placed in with canned goods safely but popsicles or icecream shouldn't because the heat from the close proximity goods could excelerate melting.
  Of course if you do not care about any of that - you should be free to ignore it.
13. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 10:53 · Score: 0
  
  Steel does not shape-shift. This stuff can actively *lift* 1000 times its own mass.
14. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by the_povinator · 2016-02-14 12:15 · Score: 2
  
  The idea of a substance being able to support 1000 times its own mass is meaningless and betrays a lack of understanding of physics and engineering.
  There is no sensible interpretation of this statement. I don't even know where to begin in explaining why it's meaningless. It has a kind of mismatch of dimensions.
  
  --
  The .sig is dead, and I believe I had a hand in killing it.
15. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by meerling · 2016-02-14 12:30 · Score: 1
  
  It's the US. We're being forced to join the rest of the world in metrics, and so many of us apparently don't want to, but it's insidious and is creeping in, and will continue to do so unless the xenophobic build a giant dome over the country.
  We'll eventually join the metric standard, but it may take a few centuries more.
16. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Irate+Engineer · 2016-02-14 12:33 · Score: 1
  
  The grocery store manager must greatly appreciate your expertise in these matters.
  
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  Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
  Vote for Bernie in 2016!
17. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by sumdumass · 2016-02-14 13:06 · Score: 1
  
  Lol. I used to date a girl who worked the register at a grocery store. This was back in the 80s so shit might have changed a bit but spmall talk wasn't very intriguing. I learned a lot about how the bagboys on her lane screwed up.
18. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by donscarletti · 2016-02-14 17:42 · Score: 1
  
  From deep within the article:
  
  Tuning the trigger temperature is only one part of the story. We also engineered these materials to store large amount[s] of elastic energy, enabling them to perform more mechanical work during their shape recovery,
  
  The capability to lift 1,000 times its own mass means that a device constructed from 1/28th ounce (about the weight of a typical paper clip), could lift a one-liter bottle of water.
  Even the article uses "support" many times, which does relate to stress (measured in N or lbs in the US). However, the scientists involved were talking about lifting, i.e. mechanical work, which is measured in N.m (or lbs.ft for Americans). So there is another dimension that you need to multiply in and you will find that the units do in fact match up. Since this distance is not specified in the article, it's still quantitatively meaningless, since for example an enormous pneumatic piston, could in theory lift a M1 tank a fraction of a millimeter when sneezed into, but by dimensional analysis it still makes sense.
  
  --
  When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
19. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Irate+Engineer · 2016-02-14 18:00 · Score: 1
  
  This makes some sense, but yes, the physical property is so buried as to be meaningless and impossible to judge the value of the material.
  The link to the school page has the same text, so I expect that this was written by campus public relations who completely mangled the technical details. I suppose the researchers slapped their foreheads repeatedly while reading this.
  
  --
  Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
  Vote for Bernie in 2016!
20. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by angel'o'sphere · 2016-02-14 19:19 · Score: 1
  
  FTFY: whoever wrote this doesn't really get metrics
  (As a side note: steel is good at tension, it is a safe bet the force the polymere is mentioned to "support" is pressure)
  
  --
  Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
21. Re: Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-15 00:28 · Score: 0
  
  Hmm - in my experience the contents of a bag might be: eggs, meringues, light bulbs, a loaf of bread, can of Spam, and a watermelon, in that order...
22. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by lsatenstein · 2016-02-15 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  What the fuck does that mean?
  1 sq. inch (sectional area) of cheap steel can support 36,000 lbs in tension without yielding.
  A 1 inch cube of steel weighs 0.29 lbs and can support 36,000 lbs, so that's 124,000 times!
  This raises a red flag that whoever wrote this doesn't really get mechanics.
  Interesting topic.
  Canada would vote Sanders in with a landslide majority. Republicans want Donald Duckish. Managing a TV show is not like managing a country. You can't delegate away responsibility.
  
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23. Re:Capable of Supporting 1000 times its own mass? by RespekMyAthorati · 2016-02-16 14:25 · Score: 1
  
  Or when enclosing anything made of glass.
Body heat makes it malleable by Mostly+a+lurker · 2016-02-14 07:54 · Score: 2

I did RTFA, but am still confused. It seems a major advantage is that the polymer returns to its original shape when heat is removed, but just normal body heat allows it to be molded into other shapes. In a medical setting, how does it return to the original shape given that it is presumably installed in an environment with a temperature at or near body heat? Also, body heat is not that hot. In non medical applications, what is a range of temperatures where it will retain its strength and resist going out of shape?
1. Re:Body heat makes it malleable by Lorens · 2016-02-14 08:59 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, would like examples of medical uses. It seems like it would be more useful to have things become malleable at lower temperatures (there are already lots that become malleable at higher ones). Gonna have to RTFA I suppose.
2. Re:Body heat makes it malleable by BradleyUffner · 2016-02-15 02:17 · Score: 1
  
  I did RTFA, but am still confused. It seems a major advantage is that the polymer returns to its original shape when heat is removed, but just normal body heat allows it to be molded into other shapes. In a medical setting, how does it return to the original shape given that it is presumably installed in an environment with a temperature at or near body heat? Also, body heat is not that hot. In non medical applications, what is a range of temperatures where it will retain its strength and resist going out of shape?
  Simple, you just freeze the patient.
The real link by OzPeter · 2016-02-14 07:57 · Score: 5, Informative

University of Rochester Body heat triggers shape change in new type of polymer
The real source even has video

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1. Re:The real link by ed.mps · 2016-02-14 08:17 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you, sir, linking to the source seems to be forgotten in the 00's
  
  --
  !sig
2. Re:The real link by Kohath · 2016-02-14 08:21 · Score: 2
  
  So this article says the opposite of the summary: the material reverts to it's original shape when body heat is applied. That sounds more useful for medical applications.
  The summary speaks of a material that loses it's original shape as body heat is applied (and presumably regains it once it cools down). That sounds less useful.
3. Re:The real link by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 08:36 · Score: 0
  
  ...and the 10's
4. Re:The real link by Shadow+of+Eternity · 2016-02-14 09:41 · Score: 1
  
  Particularly if someone ever gets hypothermia...
  
  --
  A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
Body Armor by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 08:03 · Score: 0

I wonder if this is an application for body armor?
Don't you mean... by cablepokerface · 2016-02-14 08:03 · Score: 1

Watch out: Plastic man!
Amusing first post on the linked article by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 08:10 · Score: 0

"Fleshlight 2.0"
bad summary by jemmyw · 2016-02-14 08:55 · Score: 1

The summary has it back to front. The polymer can be stretched into other shapes which it keeps until it is raised to body temperature. The material will snap back into shape even when lifting a weight or crush an object that it has been wound around.
This means that in surgery a strand of polymer can be stretched to put into place, whereupon it springs back into the desired shape, perhaps constricting something, or raising / pulling something.
1. Re:bad summary by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 09:18 · Score: 0
  
  This means that in surgery a strand of polymer can be stretched to put into place, whereupon it springs back into the desired shape, perhaps constricting something, or raising / pulling something.
  ... or killing someone if they refuse to do your bidding.
2. Re:bad summary by Harlequin80 · 2016-02-14 09:48 · Score: 1
  
  Would make fantastic replacement bones then. You could form a bone then make it malleable so it can be inserted via key hole or around something else you don't want to move and then have it move back to the original correct shape.
  How you keep it in the malleable temp range during this process though may be the hardest part.
Look out Kotex/Tampex/ExLax by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 09:19 · Score: 0

This will soak any money right out of all vaginas every where.
shoggoth? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 09:24 · Score: 0

http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Shoggoth
Body heat DOES NOT make it malleable, bad summary by Lorens · 2016-02-14 09:35 · Score: 1

Thank OzPeter below for the real link. Body heat causes the material to revert to original shape, apparently exerting considerable force to do so. I'm sure there are lots of surgical applications.
Richie Hawtin looks around cautiously.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-14 10:31 · Score: 1

Canadian electronic musician and DJ Richie Hawtin, also known as Plastikman, is wondering why everyone is telling him to "look out".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Hawtin
Re:Body heat DOES NOT make it malleable, bad summa by SuricouRaven · 2016-02-14 10:36 · Score: 1

Stents come to mind. It might be more biocompatible than the existing materials used.
Blood is a very awkward substance - it tends to clot on contact with practically anything that isn't a blood vessel.
"Watch out plastic man"? by rebelwarlock · 2016-02-14 16:48 · Score: 1

What the fuck is the point of that in the headline? Are we just shouting random words that have some vague connection to the article now?
1. Re: "Watch out plastic man"? by MacGyverOfComputers · 2016-02-17 05:20 · Score: 1
  
  The polymer becomes usefull in space applications.
  
  --
  Dustin J F
the /. cookie (joke) I get today: by angel'o'sphere · 2016-02-14 19:24 · Score: 1

fits the story: 'Force needed to accelerate 2.2lbs of cookies = 1 Fig-newton to 1 meter per second'

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Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Darwin by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-15 03:09 · Score: 0

Of course if you do not care about any of that - you should be free to ignore it.
...and let nature take its course.